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Snakes usually enter residences or underground tunnels to escape the cold. Most reptiles live in tropical conditions, but they can be found on all continents with the exception of Antarctica. Many live in grasslands, forests and swamps. Their preferred habitats are burrows and under rocks. Certain snakes brumate during times when the cold is unbearable. Brumating occurs when an animal remains awake but enters into a dormant phase. Snakes may brumate under fallen trees or rocks, and some snakes may brumate in large groups.

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African rock pythons eat mostly land-based vertebrates. Their diet includes rats and other small mammals, although adults can take down larger animals, including antelopes. Rock pythons will also eat crocodiles and fish and may kill livestock and pets in areas where their range overlaps human habitation.

According to the Florida Museum of Natural History, there are only six species of venomous snakes in Florida. These species are the coral snake, three species of rattlesnakes (the Eastern diamondback rattlesnake, the timber rattlesnake and the dusky pygmy rattler), copperheads and cottonmouths (also called water moccasins).

Puerto Rican boas are constrictor snakes that grow as long as 9 feet and kill by suffocating prey with their bodies. They are the biggest snakes on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. unincorporated territory. Puerto Rican boas eat small mammals, lizards, bats and birds. The snakes, a type of rainbow boa, are on the list of endangered species as of 2014.

A physical feature of a cobra is the distinctive hood used for territorial purposes, mating and attacking. When the hood is not in use, it is limp and pressed closely to the snake’s body. Though it serve no practical funtion, the hood displays aggression and is useful for courting.